Why God Hides

A guy came to the Lord Jesus and he said, Lord, I want to be healed. The Lord said, Do you believe I can heal you? He says, Yes, Lord, I believe. He said, Now you let me free.

You see, I have to ask you, you know why? Because if I just come and heal you without you giving me the permission, I have violated the very foundation I created you on. I have violated my own love, my own freedom, my own options, my own will. And I can never do that because I'm holy.

So the only way for me to heal you, you need to allow me. So for you to allow me, I must ask you the question. Will you let me be your leader? Will you let me be your master? Will you let me be your Lord and Savior, your God? If you say yes, it's a done deal.

If you say no, Jesus goes and tears are coming down his eyes. But he will try in a different way. He will always knock.

Revelation 3.20. Well, look at the Lord Jesus saying, Revelation 3.20. He says, I'm standing outside and I'm knocking at the door. But your God, just say a word and the door will be smashed to smithereens. He says, No, I can't do it.

But if I do it, I'm going to break my very nature, holiness. I can't. So what I'm going to do, I'm going to knock.

He who hears my voice and opens the door, I will then enter. And I will dine with him and he with me. My job as Jesus Christ is to knock.

Your job, my dear friend, is to open the door. You open, he'll come in. You don't open, he'll go and knock at someone else's door.

But he'll come back to you later on. And he will try again. And he will try again.

But you have to give him the permission. You see, if a person comes into the house from the window, is classed a thief. But if a person comes with the honor of the house, opening the door and welcoming him, then he is welcomed into the house with love and respect.

Jesus will never enter from the side. It's either the front door or it's nothing else. So now the Lord Jesus wants us.

And he says, If I'm going to give you my kingdom, without you asking for it, I have violated your freedom. You with me? You see, if you don't ask for something from me, I can't just give it. If I just give it, I'm going to violate your own freedom.

What if you're going to come back to me and say, Lord, but I didn't ask for it. Why are you giving it to me? Are you forcing this upon me? Leave me alone, Jesus. Find someone else, please.

So that's why the Lord spoke in parable. Why? Because a parable is what the Lord said, yet inside of that parable, he put a treasure. And that treasure is hidden in the parable.

Now then, he lets you to decide whether you want to follow up and find out about this treasure, or just walk away and forget about what he said. The moment you come and say, Lord, what did you mean when you said this? Oh, thank you. You're allowing me now to come into your life.

You see, it's like throwing that fishing hook with that bait, and waiting for the fish to come and eat it. I can't go and just say, fish, come here. I can't do that.

I've got to throw this beautiful bait, and then I'll wait for the fish. If the fish says, yummy, yummy, it's Assyrian dolma. You know, it's very tasty, or tabbouleh if you're Lebanese.

So if the fish likes the smell, and comes to it and eats it, I got you. If the fish doesn't, I'll keep on throwing until I hook you in, my dear child. You see, I've been calling you all your life.

You've been very busy for me. I've been saying to you, come to me, my daughter. Come to me, my son.

But then you said, I'm busy. I've got friends. They preoccupy my life.

You know, I don't have time for Jesus. I'm not going to church. Man, it's a Sunday morning, sunny, gorgeous, blue sky, Bondi Beach, here we come, bro.

Downtown. So instead of going to the church, and listening to this Marmari who talks for endless hours, and gives me a headache, I'm going to go to the beach, man. I'm going to get some tan, and some vitamin D in my skin, and then have some nice lunch.

Enjoy the day. I work six days a week. I want to have fun.

I want to relax. I'm not going and wasting my time at the church. Church is for the oldies.

It's boring. But Jesus is calling. So what the Lord Jesus said, I'm going to talk in parables.

I'll give you my treasure, but my treasure, I'll give it in a hidden way. Because unless you search for it, I cannot give it forcefully. That's why he spoke in parables.

You with me? There are three words in the Holy Bible. They're always together. And you'll find it mainly in the book of Proverbs.

Knowledge, understanding, wisdom. Knowledge, understanding, wisdom. Whenever knowledge is mentioned, there is understanding with it, and there is also wisdom.

These three, they are family. They are one family. Always together.

Knowledge, understanding, wisdom. Knowledge, put next to it, information. Understanding, put next to it, comprehension.

Wisdom, put next to it, application. So, knowledge, information. Understanding, comprehension.

Wisdom, application. I hear the word, I get information. When I got the information, I have to work a little bit harder to understand what I heard.

When I understood what I heard, I need to go to the last and complete step to apply what I heard, what I understood into my life. What's the point? If I hear the word, and I stay at that level. I only got information.

That is no good for me. It's not going to change me at all, even if that word is the word of God. Because I heard the word, and it came through this ear, and went straight away through the other one.

That was just information. I came to gain some information. I say, oh yeah, that was nice.

The preacher was really great. But what about you, my dear friend? The preacher is not going through the hassle to preach, so that he can look and sound good to you. This is the voice of Christ to all of you.

It is the word that saves if you hear it, and then understand it, and then apply it into your life. So, if I hear the word and stay there, I've gained nothing. Just like I walked into the church, I'll go out the same.

I haven't increased, I haven't changed. And so many people have been going to churches all their life, and nothing has changed in them. And then they come back and say, Jesus hasn't done anything.

Excuse me, Jesus changes everything, my dear friend. He said, let there be light, and the light and darkness disappeared. When Jesus talks, things happen.

Lazarus, come forth. The dead Lazarus, four days rotted in the grave, came out better looking than me and you guys. That's Jesus.

But you see, if I hear his word, and I stay at the level of knowledge, information, the word hasn't done me no favor. It's not going to change me. Because I decided just to hear it, and leave it there, and walk away.

Some people take it further. They hear it, and then they spend more time with hard work to understand the word. That's good.

Now they understood it. But now, since they understood it, and they stayed there. Some stayed there as well.

It's still not good enough. It's good, but it's not good enough. Because you heard the word, you understood the word, but what have you done about it? Nothing.

You know what it's like, and I'm so sorry, a doctor comes to mind, and all love and respect to all the doctors that are here, and that are not here, in the physical sense. A smoking doctor. This doctor studied, got information about how the human body functions.

What is good for the human body, and what is not good. The doctor is very knowledgeable. He gained the information, he understood the information, yet he still smoked.

Yet he knows smoking is not good for you, as a doctor. You see, the doctor got the information, understood it, but never applied it in his life. It's not going to help him.

When I understood smoking is not good, I need to apply it. If I don't apply it, what's the benefit then? The Lord Jesus, is exactly in this way, is giving us this parable. He says, I am giving you information that is hitting your ear.

When you hear my word, I want you to follow through, and learn what I said. I want you to chase after me. I want you to come and knock at my door.

I want you to ask, because when you ask me, you've allowed me to enter your life. Now I'm free, I'm not in violation of my own doings. So, this guy comes to the Lord.

His question is totally wrong to begin with. He came to the Lord Jesus, number one, he said, Good teacher, tell me what shall I do to enter God's kingdom? You know what the word good is? The word good only applies to God. Because there is no one good but God.

That's what the psalmist King David said. All, meaning all humanity, have veered off the road, and they fell short of the glory of God. There is no one good, no one but God.

So, who is good? God. Anyone else good? No. In the human race, in the totality of the human race, anyone else good? No.

Only God is good. So when this human being, this Jewish guy, coming to Jesus, and referring to him as the good teacher. What is he literally trying to say to Jesus? You're God.

But you see, the Lord looked at his heart. And since Jesus is God, he knows what's inside of you before even you know it. He looked inside of this man, he said, My dear friend, you just referred to me as God, but I'm looking inside of you, you don't believe I'm God.

So which one is it? Make up your mind. Ah, you came because you are a show-off. I see.

Okay, here we go. So you're trying to say to me, just like I am the good teacher, Jesus Christ, so are you, my dear friend, because you are a teacher of the law for the Israelite nation. So are you putting yourself in the same level as I, Jesus? Whoa, that's dangerous, my dear friend.

But, since I am the true living God in the flesh, since I am your heavenly dad, and I love you so much, and I came to purchase you with my own blood, I'm not going to yet embarrass you, I'll give you another chance. Why are you calling me good teacher? You should know the law. What does the law say? This guy is a show-off.

So he's flexing his hand here and he's showing his muscles. He says, yes, yes, now you're talking, Jesus. You know, I'm going to tell you what the law says, looks like you're not aware of it.

The law says you have to love your God with all your heart and love your neighbor like yourself. He said, yeah, that's beautiful, well done. Do that and you shall live.

He said, but who is my neighbor? He said, man, look, I gave you a chance just to be humble and go home. I don't want to embarrass you, but you left me now no option. His question was wrong from its roots.

Good teacher, tell me, what shall I do to enter God's kingdom? Jesus didn't want to embarrass him. Jesus would have said to him, listen, it is not what you do that brings you into God's kingdom. It is what I have done on the cross, my dear friend, that is going to bring you into God's kingdom if you believe and accept this sacrifice that I, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, have offered for you and the whole world on the cross on Calvary.

It is what I've done, not what you.